Symphony No. 9 (Villa-Lobos)

Symphony No. 9 is a composition by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1952. A performance lasts about twenty minutes.

Symphony No. 9
by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Catalogue	W510
Genre	Symphony
Form	Symphony
Composed	1952: Rio de Janeiro
Dedication	Mindinha
Published	1952: Paris
Publisher	Max Eschig
Recorded	January 1954
Movements	4
Scoring	Orchestra
Premiere
Performers	Philadelphia Orchestra

History

Villa-Lobos composed his Ninth Symphony in Rio de Janeiro in 1952. It was first performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy. The score is dedicated to Mindinha (Arminda Neves d'Almeida), the composer's companion for the last 23 years of his life (Villa-Lobos, sua obra 2009, 46).

Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for an orchestra consisting of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, cymbals, coconut hulls, bass drum, xylophone, vibraphone, celesta, harp, and strings.

Analysis

The symphony has four movements:

1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Scherzo (Vivace)
4. Allegro (giusto)

References

• Béhague, Gerard. 1994. Villa-Lobos: The Search for Brazil's Musical Soul. Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 1994. ISBN 0-292-70823-8.
• Enyart, John William. 1984. "The Symphonies of Heitor Villa-Lobos". PhD diss. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati.
• Peppercorn, Lisa M. 1991. Villa-Lobos: The Music: An Analysis of His Style, translated by Stefan de Haan. London: Kahn & Averill; White Plains, NY: Pro/Am Music Resources Inc. ISBN 1-871082-15-3 (Kahn & Averill); ISBN 0-912483-36-9.
• Salles, Paulo de Tarso. 2009. Villa-Lobos: processos composicionais. Campinas, SP: Editora da Unicamp. ISBN 978-85-268-0853-9.
• Villa-Lobos, sua obra. 2009. Version 1.0. MinC / IBRAM, and the Museu Villa-Lobos. Based on the third edition, 1989.